Obama approves California emissions waiver

In a move that was completely expected but nonetheless exciting, President Obama has overruled the Bush andministration and is pursuing the "California Emissions Waiver." I have discussed the waiver here several times. The jist: EPA denied a waiver to California that would allow it to set emissions limits for new vehicles. California is the only state allowed to propose limits in the clean air act. Other states are allowed to use either California or Federal standards. Maryland was planning to use California's standards pending approval of the waiver. According to the Frederick News-Post on December 27:

Frederick County's three elected federal officials oppose a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ruling to block Maryland and 16 other states from having emissions regulations stricter than federal limits. In contrast, many of the county's state representatives support the federal government's move...

State delegate Rick Weldon, a Republican representing Frederick and Washington counties, said he agreed with the EPA decision and does not want to proceed to court. He did not support the Clean Cars Act last session..."I don't think it's appropriate for 50 states to set 50 different criteria for greenhouse gas emissions from cars," Weldon said.

I did talk to Delegate Weldon about this issue as he is a very reasonable person. I didn't change his mind but I did explain to him that since only California is able to set its own more stringent standards, states can adopt either the federal standards or California standards. The California standards were officially adopted by 17 states including Maryland, representing about 50% of the US population. The "patchwork" argument is nonexistent and is basically political jockeying on behalf of the auto industry. Yet I heard this argument again on the radio this morning.

Thanks, Prez.